“My soul exalts the Lord and my Spirit has begun to rejoice in God my Savior.” The Magnificat; Luke 1:46

“We will rejoice and delight in you.  We will praise your love more than wine.”  Song of Solomon 1:4

Do you have a favorite love song?  What is it?  Who wrote it?  What, or whom, is it about? Why does it speak to you?

There are many Christmas Songs about love:  “Of the Father’s Love Begotten” and “Love Came Down at Christmas” are two that come to mind.  But perhaps one of the best love songs and least know is The Magnificat.

The Magnificat is the song that Mary sings after her meeting and greeting with Elizabeth.  It is fascinatingly unique for a number of reasons, not the least of which is it’s subject matter.

Mary doesn’t sing about Elizabeth, who has just blessed her.  She doesn’t sing about Joseph, who is her faithful fiancée. Perhaps most surprisingly she doesn’t sing about Jesus, the infant in her womb.  Instead she sings about God. She sings of God’s might and God’s mercy; God’s love and God’s grace.

“He who is mighty has done great things, and holy is his name.”  We have witnessed how caught up the world is in politics and power.  Perhaps we have been taken captive by it also.  All of this is temporary, fleeting, unimportant.  Where is Caesar?  Where is Cyrenius?  Where is Herod or Pontius Pilate?  God is mightier than all the earthly rulers and powers.  Why?  God is eternal.  Gpod is holy.  There are many adjectives one might associate with Kings, Queens, and Presidents, but “Holy” is not one of them.  God is mighty and holy because he brings down others who are seen as mighty.  But God’s might and holiness is on display in a much different way:  God exalts the lowly.  This is called grace.

Mary is the prime example of God’s grace.  It is tempting during this sacred season to sentimentalize The Birth Story, to make Mary a paragon of virtue, a unique, “wholly and holy” other; different from any and every woman who has ever lived.  But that’s not the case.  She is just a young woman who is chosen by the grace of God, what she calls mercy, to be the God-bearer.

God’s grace evident in mercy.  Mercy not only that she was chosen to be the mother of Jesus, but mercy in that she wasn’t stoned for adultery, that she would be rescued from the raid of Herod’s soldiers, that she would a first-hand eye-witness of the works of mercy of her Son (keep in mind that Luke uses her as the primary source for his Gospel), and that she would one day, through these same eyes of faith that looked with love upon her new-born son, see in His merciless death, the outpouring of God’s loving merciful grace to the world.

God’s grace is not limited or confined to Mary.   We are, like Mary, mere human beings, objects of God’s grace and mercy.  Not many, if any, of us are mighty or powerful.  Nor should that be our aspiration.  For it is the lowly, as Mary sings, that God lifts up.  It is the meek, the mild, those who are most despised and looked down upon that are exalted, that are great in the eyes of God. 

Therefore, the song of Mary is not just about God, not just about her, but about us. And it is about love.  God’s love.  The love that we are born with.  The love that we spend our lives looking for, but never fully finding and experiencing unless and until we experience it in God.   The Magnificat is God’s love song meant for us, to give us hope and faith Mary’s, rejoicing that the misfortune, mishaps, and mistakes of life are avenues for the grace and love of God.

So what is that favorite love song of yours?  Perhaps add The Magnificat to the list.